We have eaten just a bit of everything so far, but haven’t been able to fully get through any produce from last week’s CSA box. I had a couple beet smoothies and made a big batch of roasted veggies to take for lunch this week. For dinner the other night, K made some omelets with a mish mosh of veggies folded inside.

As usual, I ate most of the fruit from last week, so popped over to the farmers market to get some more this weekend.

What We Bought:

Dozen eggs from Benton Harbor, MI

Raspberries from Benton Harbor, MI

Blueberries from Bangor, MI

What We Learned:

We are getting better at incorporating our produce into basically all of our meals. A piece of my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, can easily have something from our box in it.

Basically, any vegetable chopped up and added to an omelet is delicious!

I pretty much never buy lunch and I never did even in my school days when we could purchase “hot lunch.”

Locally produced turkey sandwich

Not only does this practice save me money, but it also saves on food packaging and waste. Ziploc bags are never on my shopping list because I use SnackTaxis to hold all my snacks and lunch essentials.

I have had them for a number of years and I love them. They are machine washable and I just let them air dry over night. They even stand up to a PB&J with a bit too much jelly. Just wipe it off and toss in the washer!

Their fun designs also can make a boring lunch a little bit more exciting! And my lunches are pretty boring (see the turkey sandwich with just bread and turkey above).

My handy lunch bag has also been hanging around since my college days and it too is machine washable. So when I leave something in there just a little too long and it starts to get a bit funky, that can easily be fixed.

For foods that cannot go in a SnackTaxi, I just use Pyrex glass containers for everything from yogurt to soup. Yeah, glass is heavy, but whatever, bring on the muscles!

Our regular silverware from home comes with me to work when necessary and then I just bring it home every day to pop in the dishwasher. I don’t find it to be any extra work.

On top of all the other necessary pieces, I keep a napkin in my drawer at my desk! It definitely comes in handy when I am eating a juicy peach or there is a snack to grab in the break room.

K picked up our CSA box this week and he took a page out of my book by bringing a bag to transfer the produce so we don’t have to bring the box home. He also purposefully did not bring any cash to the farmers market so he would not be tempted to make any impulse buys.

This is K’s attempt at taking a cool artsy picture for me.

What We Bought (From the CSA):

Broccoli

Cauliflower

New baby yukon potatoes

Bok Choi

Red Beets

Parisian Market Carrots

Raspberries

Blueberries

Summer Squash

English Peas

What We Learned:

Since we failed on using the beets from the last box, K instantly used some of the gigantic beets we got to make a beet and berry smoothie and absolutely loved it

I am back in the workplace now and no longer working from home, so it has been a bit of an adjustment. Unfortunately, I can’t just pop over to Green City Market on a Wednesday unless I go at 7 AM before work.

My biggest challenge right now is incorporating all our produce into my lunches.

Instead of hauling our box home this week, I brought a large canvas bag to transfer my produce into. This way I did not have to take the box back to the farmers market on Wednesday, I just left it with them to reuse again.

That will have to be my new routine because I am no longer going to be working from home anymore (I got a new job!) and can’t just pop over to the Wednesday market whenever I feel like it.

Although that is a bummer, I am excited to pack my lunches again and see what I can do with our produce.

I can’t believe it has been seven weeks since we have started this local journey.

Our refrigerator is full of so much green and our cabinets are looking more full of less processed products.

This week’s CSA box (photo by K since I was in Denver)

On Wednesday I brought my CSA box back to the farmers market and picked up some raspberries. Instead of taking the carton the raspberries came in, I brought my own produce bag and plopped them in my berries colander when I got home.

What We Bought (Almost All from CSA box):

Head lettuce

Avon Spinach

Red frill mustard

Arugula

Radishes

Strawberries

English Peas

Greenhouse Cherry tomatoes

Yellow Spring onions

Raspberries from Mick Klug Farm in St. Joseph, MI

What We Learned:

We still need to up our arsenal of recipes for veggie meals, often we are just cutting up a bunch of greens and tossing it in a pasta or salad

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